Charity shops 'make people more likely to donate'

A survey by the think tank Demos for the Charity Retail Association finds six in 10 Britons agree the presence of such shops makes them more likely to give

Charity shop

Fifty-nine per cent of people say the presence of charity shops on high streets makes them more likely to donate money to good causes, according to data collected by the think tank Demos on behalf of the Charity Retail Association.

The survey of 2,225 adults, conducted in April, also found that 22 per cent said going to a charity shop led them to support the charity in other ways, such as donating money, finding out more about the charity’s work or signing petitions.

The data was collected by Demos during research for a report it plans to publish in August that investigates the role of charity shops and their social value within communities.

Other figures show that 64 per cent of people had purchased from a charity shop in the past 12 months, while 80 per cent of people had donated items to a charity shop.

Ally Paget, a researcher at Demos who is working on the project, said the polling showed that charity shops offered more than affordable shopping to local communities.

"Most of the people we spoke to felt charity shops brought a variety of benefits, both to them individually but also to the wider community," she said. "In addition to making Britons more charitable, charity shops also provide important volunteering opportunities to local people. We need to recognise and appreciate the wider benefits they provide."